Chicken Caesar Salad



In this hot weather we will be eating light meals from the garden



After a day of indulgent sunbathing under the forget-me-not Norfolk sky, we are hungry; but not that hungry. The obvious quick meal of the day is Caesar Salad. I absolutely love Cos lettuce; mainly because I have always loved Caesar salad (as well as that delicious chicken liver salad they used to serve at Cafe Rouge). The elongated, crispy leaves look so pleasing with a homemade dressing drizzled over. Now we always grow this variety; we also grow the Italian curly leaved cut-and-come-again as well as red chicory. When growing your own vegetables, the first rule is to grow what you love to cook and eat!

The name of the seed variety is 'Lobjoits Cos' which is easy to get hold of and has a good germination rate

For Chicken Caesar Salad you will need:

5 plump chicken thighs with skin on

Loaf of stale white bread ideally a ciabatta/French stick

3 sprigs fresh rosemary finely chopped

salt

pepper

olive oil

6 slices smoked bacon

2 large or 4 smaller homegrown cos lettuces

1 can anchovies in oil

150g pack of fresh Parmesan

1 garlic clove

Juice of 1 lemon

Heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 200C

First put torn up bits of bread in a small baking tray with the chicken thighs.

Add seasoning, chopped rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil.

'Smoosh' around with your hands to ensure the bread and chicken has a good coating of oil and flavours. Then bring the chicken to the top, making sure the bread forms a layer under the chicken.

Put the tray in the oven for around 35-45 mins. (The bread should have toasted as well as soaked up the chicken and herb juice.)

Remove from the oven. Lay the bacon over the chicken and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes until the bacon is crispy.

While the bacon is crisping, make the dressing.

Put the can of anchovies in a pestle and mortar with the clove of garlic and mash to a pulp.

Scrape into a small bowl and beat in the lemon juice, creme fraiche, 75g grated Parmesan and about 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

Chill for 10 minutes while you deal with the meat.

Remove the tray from the oven when the bacon has crisped and the chicken meat is dropping off the bone. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes then pull the chicken meat off the bones, snip the bacon into shreds and remove the croutons of bread for cooling.

Wash the cos lettuce but don't chop it-leave it whole. Place it in a large mixing/salad bowl. Add the chicken, bacon slices and croutons. Then add the dressing to taste and toss it around with your hands to ensure a good coating. Finish with some shavings of fresh Parmesan.

The scrumptious aspects of this dish are the combination of clean crunchy lettuce with warm chicken and bacon, the sharp, salty, creamy dressing and the cheesiness of the Parmesan.

Serve with new potatoes. All you need is an ice cold glass of Sauvingon Blanc to cut through the creamy cheesiness.